Qatar Receives Italy’s OPV, 4 Turkish Landing Craft

Qatar has taken delivery of second of two Fincantieri Musherib-class offshore patrol vessels Sheraouh, as well four landing craft produced by Turkey.

The OPV was handed over to the Qatari Ministry of Defence at the Muggiano (La Spezia) shipyard.

The program is worth nearly €4 billion and envisages, other than 2 OPVs, 4 Corvettes over 100 meters long and 1 LPD (Landing Platform Dock).

Like Qatar’s first ship Musherib delivered in January 2022, the OPV Sheraouh, has been designed in compliance with the RINAMIL for Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) rules and is a flexible type of ship capable of performing several services, from surveillance to combat functions. It is about 63m long, 9.2m wide, with a maximum speed of 30 knots and it accommodates as many as 38 of crew members.

The OPVs will feature a 76mm main gun, 8-cell VLS cells for the employment of surface-to-air missiles, while anti-ship capability will be provided by Exocet anti-ship missiles.

Last May, the keel laying of the LPD took place in Palermo, while in April Fincantieri has delivered Damsah in Muggiano, the second of 4 corvettes, all within the same program for Qatar.

In a separate ceremony on July 6, Qatar received four Al-Ebrar Project landing craft -- Fuwarit, Broog, Ishat and Al-Aaleya -- from the Anadolu Shipyard in Tuzla, Turkey. The ships were delivered within 22 months from the contract signing. According to the shipbuilder, they will be sent to Qatar after six weeks of tactical shakedown trainings.

Al-Ebrar vessels have a crew of 25, an endurance of seven days, and is armed with two 30 mm and two 12.7 mm stabilised guns. It can carry 260 fully equipped soldiers or three tanks.